Manna Nichols News

The much-acclaimed Lincoln Center staging of THE KING AND I celebrates a triumphant start to its national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center. This jewel of a production is so utterly exceptional in every detail, words of praise scarcely seem to do it justice. Simply put, this is one of the finest shows to grace the PPAC stage in recent memory.

THE KING AND I is hitting the road! Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. Joan Almedilla will play Lady Thiang with Brian Rivera as Kralahome, Manna Nichols as Tuptim, Kavin Panmeechao as Lun Tha, Anthony Chan as Prince Chulalongkorn, Graham Montgomery asLouis Leonowens and Baylen Thomas as Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsey.

THE KING AND I is hitting the road! Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. Joan Almedilla will play Lady Thiang with Brian Rivera as Kralahome, Manna Nichols as Tuptim, Kavin Panmeechao as Lun Tha, Anthony Chan as Prince Chulalongkorn, Graham Montgomery asLouis Leonowens and Baylen Thomas as Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsey.

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC recently announced that Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) would lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. The tour will launch in Providence, RI at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) October 30-November 6, 2016.

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC just announced that Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. Joan Almedilla will play Lady Thiang with Brian Rivera as Kralahome, Manna Nichols as Tuptim, Kavin Panmeechao as Lun Tha, Anthony Chan as Prince Chulalongkorn, Graham Montgomery as Louis Leonowens and Baylen Thomas as Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsey. The tour will launch in Providence, RI October 30-November 6, 2016, and will play multi-week and single week engagements throughout the 2016-17 touring season and beyond. Please find complete schedule at www.thekinganditour.com.

Coming up soon! Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, and the National Asian Artists Project (NAAP), under the leadership of Executive Artistic Director Baayork Lee and Co-Founder Steven Eng, will present a concert performance of the musical HONOR, with music and lyrics by Peter Mills, and book by Mills and Cara Reichel, adapted from William Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Christine Toy Johnson has come full circle in a career with many facets: from her first Equity role to her current stint as Bloody Mary in Guthrie Theater's SOUTH PACIFIC, this Rodgers & Hammerstein musical has been important to her.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, presents the NYC premiere of DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES now through April 17, at The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The new musical is inspired by the life of visionary composer, and murderer, Carlo Gesualdo.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, presents the NYC premiere of DEATH FOR FIVE VOICES now through April 17, at The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Musicals Tonight! continues its ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE... to be held on Monday, March 28th, at The Lion Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street at 7 PM. On this evening, a milestone is reached over 800 different performers will have participated in the series to date.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, has announced that due to a scheduling conflict Nathan Gardner will replace the previously announced Jason Gotay in the principal role of Carlo Gesualdo for the premiere of Death for Five Voices from March 24 - April 17, at The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street, NYC.

Kalamazoo is represented in large numbers and with great pride in The Big Apple. The Kalamazoo shootings left people across the country in shock - our friends, former students, and family in New York City were no exception. In response, several WMU Theatre alums and Kalamazoo natives who now reside in NYC are coming together to produce KALAMAZOO STRONG: A BENEFIT CABARET The event will be held Monday, March 7th at 9:30pm in the Laurie Beechman Theatre in Manhattan.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, has announced principal casting for the premiere of Death for Five Voices, inspired by the life of Renaissance composer and murderer Carlo Gesualdo, from March 24 - April 17, at The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street, NYC.

ALLEGIANCE plays its final performance on Broadway today, February 14, 2016. Performances began at the Longacre Theatre on October 6, 2015, and the production officially opened on November 8, 2015. At the time of its closing, the musical will have played 37 previews and 113 regular performances, and will have been seen by approximately 120,000 people, a number that eerily echoes the number of Japanese Americans who were directly impacted by the events that inspired the show. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through ALLEGIANCE's journey to the Great White Way!

The actor/activist talks about decisions made by those who suffered internment not to pass on their stories.

Sing Out, Louise! The original cast album of the new musical Allegiance, with music & lyrics by Jay Kuo, was recorded last month at MSR Studios and is available digitally today, January 29, 2016. 

Oklahoma City University has amassed an immense pool of Broadway talent, currently represented this season in Allegiance (Manna Nichols, Belinda Allyn), On Your Feet (Jennifer Sanchez), Shuffle Along (Richard Riaz Yoder), Les Miserables (Matt McMahan), Matilda (Lauralyn McClelland), among others.  These artists, along with other OCU alumni & friends, will be performing in AN EVENING WITH THE STARS, a cabaret benefiting OCUNYC (OCU's New York City alumni chapter), Monday, January 25th at 9:00pm.

Sing Out, Louise! Productions and ATA have announced that the new American musical Allegiance has partnered with Omaze, the fundraising platform that gives you the opportunity to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences while donating to great causes. For a chance to win, fans can donate $10 or more to Takei Over The Town with George Takei and raise money for students to attend performances of Allegiance through Inspire Change. The winner will fly to New York City and kick off the evening by having dinner with George, receive VIP tickets to Allegiance and meet the cast. Rounding out the experience is a customized meme created with Takei and shared to his 10 million social followers.

Miss Universe, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, took in a performance of Broadway's ALLEGIANCE over the weekend. The 26-year-old took to Twitter to share her backstage visit with the cast following the show